Farmer's health affects herd health

A well-prepared producer equals a content cow

By:
Mike Rosman, Agweek

Farmers’ behavioral health affects the animals they raise. Practitioners of artificial insemination of livestock have long known their stress levels affect the conception rate of the animals they are breeding. Animals detect the tension of the people working with them. Reproductive success diminishes when the AI technician is stressed out.

Animals can sense when their handler is upset or relaxed and calm. I know from my own experiences when I raised cattle that if I felt the need to hurry as I artificially inseminated a cow, she usually didn’t cooperate. If I took my time, the cow relaxed and the job usually went faster.

Stress increases the risk of farming-related injuries. An analysis of injuries to North Dakota farmers during the Farm Crisis of the 1980s by Jack Geller, Richard Ludtke and Terry Stratton, published in 1990 in the Journal of Rural Health, indicated that stress, especially from financial difficulties, increased chances of injury.

Using data from the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Survey (1994) and the Iowa Farm Poll (1989), Kendall Thu, Paul Lasley and other colleagues determined that stress was a risk factor for agricultural injuries. Their research was reported in the Journal of Agromedicine in 1997.

Farmers’ stress levels also can affect the health of their animals. Christina Lunner Kolstrup and Jan Hultgren examined the relationship of symptoms reported by 41 owners or managers and 20 employed workers on Swedish dairy farms to the physical health of their cows. Their study was published in the Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health in 2011.

The study confirmed that stressful working conditions and behavioral health symptoms are “not uncommon” among owners and employed workers. The owners and dairy farm workers reported their perceived stressors and symptoms on questionnaires. Generally, the workers reported more symptoms than the owners.

Reported stressors included having to work fast, having little influence over decisions and workloads, low sense of meaningfulness of the work and low sense of staff coherence. These stressors were associated with feelings of irritation, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, nervousness and abdominal pain. Workers who felt their contributions to the dairy farm operation were valued by the owners reported fewer symptoms and greater pleasure from their work.

The study found that the incidence of behavioral health symptoms of the owners and employed workers was positively correlated with the incidence of mastitis in cows and the total number of cow diseases that were reported in the dairy veterinary records. It should be emphasized that, by design, the study yielded findings that are correlations, not cause-effect outcomes.

Happy cows are likely to have happy handlers. Despite the commercial that says happy cows live in California, how caretakers feel and treat their cows is more important. It is probably also the case that healthy animals make their caretakers feel better, too.

The health of farm animals and the condition of farm buildings, machinery and fences may be indicators of the stress level of the persons who work on the farm. A veterinarian mentioned to me that the somatic cell count in milk samples from dairy cows and the body condition scores of beef cattle often reflect how stressed their owners are.

It helps if supervisors promote regular communication with their workers and demonstrate leadership in maintaining a behaviorally healthy working environment. Regularly scheduled meetings of the owners, managers and the farm workers helps the employees feel their perceptions are valued.

Some supervisors reward valuable suggestions of employees with bonuses. Another beneficial management practice is to make sure all employees, including the owners, have sufficient time to sleep, exercise and associate with family and friends. These are investments in employees that improve production and safety.

Fatigue is a common problem for farm workers. We accumulate sleep debt whenever we obtain less than our bodies need. Most persons require about eight hours of sleep daily, but the normal range varies from six to 10 hours.

If we accumulate 10 hours of sleep debt, we behave similarly to when we have .08 percent alcohol in our blood, which is the legal minimum for inebriation in most states and provinces. Ten hours of sleep debt slows our reaction time, reduces the accuracy of motor movements and memory, makes us more emotionally impulsive and compromises judgment. Insufficient sleep increases the risk of injuries.

When we are tired, we are more likely to incur injuries when working with animals. Annual reports by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, routinely indicate animals as the leading cause of nonfatal ag-related injuries.

Farmers who work with livestock should recognize that healthy working conditions and good behavioral health of the workers increases productivity.

Editor’s Note: Rosmann is a Harlan, Iowa, psychologist who raised crops and livestock for many years. Contact him at www.agbehavioral health.com.